Oscars 2016.

This year marked the 88th Annual Academy Awards! 88 is the year I was born and 8 is my lucky number so I figured something special might happen (spoiler alert...it did!). I write something every year about the Oscars and I also try to watch as many nominated movies as I can, but definitely the ones nominated for Best Picture, and this year is no different. So here goes...

Fashion 

Obviously, let's talk fashion first! Everyone looked so amazing and beautiful...especially my beau, Leonardo DiCaprio. These are my top fashion favorites of the night...

Lady Gaga in Brandon Maxwell.
Charlize Theron in Dior Haute Couture and Harry Winston diamonds.
Saoirse Ronan in Calvin Klein and Chopard jewelry.

I have to admit, I was really looking forward to seeing Alicia Vikander's look tonight since I've been obsessed her with style all awards season, but I was a little underwhelmed by her look at the Oscars. Not bad, but still not that breathtaking.

And on a side note, has anyone checked Heidi Klum's head recently? She's been looking all kinds of sloppy on the red carpet recently, I definitely thought she would step it up for the Oscars at least.

Being in the diamond industry myself, I had to include my favorite jewelry looks of the night too!

Jennifer Lawrence in Chopard.
Charlize Theron in $3.7 million worth of Harry Winston diamonds.
Giuliana Rancic in Forevermark. 

Host/#OscarsSoWhite

There was a lot of buzz around the Oscars not having a more diverse group of nominees. I agreed somewhat, where I thought Will Smith should have been nominated and so should have Straight Out of Compton. I guess the Academy tried to make up for it throughout the show by peppering in a lot of jokes to combat the #OscarsSoWhite controversy? Chris Rock's monologue was actually funny in my opinion, but most of the jokes were trying to make light of "racist Hollywood", and though his jokes were bold, they were also borderline uncomfortable. It was apparent that everyone in the audience didn't know if it was okay if they laughed. I did, however, like Chris' nod that Michael B. Jordan should have been nominated, because lets face it, he should have. On the other hand, that introduction to Stacey Dash was god awful. Maybe I'm biased, but I'm having a hard time agreeing that any recent Oscars host has been better than Ellen!

Winners

Again, I watched all the Best Picture nominated movies this year, and also Joy and The Danish Girl. I had my opinions on who should win and I'm overall really pleased with the outcomes. After tonight, I'm definitely going to make an effort to watch Carol and Amy (Best Documentary Feature). Let's talk...

I'm really happy for all the Mad Max wins including Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Production Design, Best Costume Design, and Best Film Editing. I think they were all deserved. Creating a futuristic movie that is to the caliber that Mad Max is hard to do and the people behind it did it really well.

• Best Picture: I thought all of the nominees this year did a really good job of spotlighting (hehe) social relevance. Spotlight was the winner! I kind of didn't see it coming, but I'm really happy it came out on top. I think this movie, of all of them, embodied social relevance and brought to light a hidden topic that challenges an otherwise revered institution. 

• Best Actor: Well. What can I say? I've been waiting for this moment since I saw Titanic when I was 13. Aside from how handsome I think Leonardo DiCaprio is, I think he's truly, truly talented and maybe it took him all these years to perfect his acting enough to be able to portray his character in The Revenant, but at the end of the day, this award was so deserved in so many ways. This is why I think the 88th annual Oscars was lucky :) Also, true to Leo fashion, he encouraged conservation of the environment in his acceptance speech, which made his win even more epic. 

• Best Actress: Brie Larson! The Room was actually a very poignant film and Brie had a huge responsibility of carrying it, along with Jacob Tremblay, and she did a great job. She was one of the only main characters in the film. I read that she locked herself in her home for one month and didn't leave so she could understand how her character would feel. As far as I've seen, method acting always breeds a winning result, so good for her!

• Best Supporting Actor: Mark Rylance in Bridge of Spies. I liked him in this film, but I'm not sure I would have chosen him as the Best Supporting Actor. Even though he was the major part of the film, he was hardly in any of the scenes. I would have liked to see Mark Ruffalo win this category for his portrayal of a Boston journalist in Spotlight. His passion in this film was incomparable. 

• Best Supporting Actress: Alicia Vikander in The Danish Girl. I watched The Danish Girl this morning, very last minute! I wasn't going to, but I figured since the two main actors in it (Alicia Vikander and Eddie Redmayne) were nominated, I should watch it. I'm really glad I did, because Alicia's performance was great and I'm really happy she won this category. She's my new found girl crush, I'm a little obsessed with her. 

I'm also very happy with Inside Out winning Best Animated Film, it was a great take on how our brains work and extremely profound for a film intended for a younger audience. 

The only category I was in disagreement with was Best Original Song. I like Sam Smith and all, but Lady Gaga was definitely robbed of this award. 

Highlights 

1. The appearances made by C3PO, R2D2, BB8, the Minions, Woody, and Buzz Lightyear! So cute and...how did they do that with the Minions,Woody, and Buzz? :P

2. Girl Scout Cookies for the win! I can't decide if that was better than the pizza from Ellen's year of hosting, but either way, Girl Scout Cookies are a good crowd pleaser and I wouldn't mind getting my hands on some Thin Mints.

3. Jacob Tremblay and Abraham Attah standing on soap boxes to be taller while presenting for Best Live Action Short Film. I have yet to see Beasts of No Nation, but I loved Jacob in Room!

4. Joe Biden introducing Lady Gaga's performance of Till It Happens to You and empowering survivors of sexual assault.

5. Lady Gaga's performance!! What a show stopper, this was the ultimate highlight of the show, for me anyway. This performance was truly powerful and the inclusion of survivors of sexual assault on stage with her made it even more profound. Her passion in her craft is just amazing and brings forth emotion, as it did with the audience.

6. Alejandro G. Innaritu's speech upon winning for Best Director, which championed eliminating prejudice and promoting equality. It's long, but worth the watch.

All in all, I was very happy with how the Oscars were this year. From the winners, to the performances, and even the hosting, I thought it was fun and entertaining to watch. And I'm especialy overjoyed with Leo winning...I knew the 88th Academy Awards would be a lucky one! What did all of you movie lovers out there think of it? I hope you all enjoyed it and enjoyed reading my post. That's a wrap!

Oscars 2015: Fashion, Winners, & Highlights.

Yesterday marked the 87th annual Academy Awards and it did not disappoint! The Oscar's were in full effect this year with a slew of amazing movies that all deserve acknowledgement of excellence. Hollywood is always glamorous and yesterday's production was a really great way to acknowledge and honor the nominated films, actors, directors, and crew.


Fashion

The fashion this year really blew me away...when you see an actress wearing a gown and you just immediately think, "Now, she's a movie star", you know the fashion had to be out of this world. I had a hard time choosing my top three best dressed actresses this year. On some actresses, I loved the dresses but didn't like the styling or hair and makeup. My top three best dressed this year were my favorite head to toe looks...

Lupita Nyong'o in Calvin Klein by Francisco Costa. 6,000 pearls of perfection.

Margot Robbie in Saint Laurent and Van Cleef and Arpels jewelry. Head to toe perfection, best styling by far. Her necklace was created for the Duchess of Windsor in the 1930s.

Zoe Saldana in Atelier Versace. She just had twins people! She looks amazingly good, especially her girls she brought out to play.

Honorable mentions: My 2 Jennifers, Jennifer Lopez in Elie Saab and Jennifer Aniston in Versace.


Host/Cutest Couple

Neil Patrick Harris hosted the show this year, and he was okay but I thought he had a hard time topping Ellen last year. I liked the opening musical number but and his jokes and winner predictions fell a little flat. His jokes were typical "dad" jokes. He tried though! I always think Neil and his husband David Burtka are so cute together and when they showed up on the carpet, that thought was reinforced in me. How could you not love them?!

Too freaking cute. 

Winners

I watched all the Best Picture nominated movies this year, as I have been trying to do since 2013. I loved them all and definitely had my front runners for winners. I was pleased with the outcome of some and disappointed in some others. Let's talk...

• Best Picture: Birdman. I have to be honest...I left Birdman to watch for last. I wasn't excited about it and I heard it didn't do great in the box office. But much to my surprise, I fell in love with it! I kind of anticipated Boyhood winning, because of its concept of being filmed over 12 years, but having Birdman win was a pleasant surprise and VERY much deserved. I recommend this movie to everyone.

• Best Actor: Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything. I have to give props to The Theory of Everything. It was a good movie and Eddie portrayed Dr. Hawking really well, but in my honest opinion, Michael Keaton deserved this award. He was superb in Birdman, he really made the movie come alive so I think he was robbed of this award. 

• Best Actress: Julianne Moore, Still Alice. I really wish I watched Still Alice. I just didn't have enough time to, but after tonight it is definitely on my list of must watch movies! I've always been a fan of Julianne Moore and I think she's a great actress. Having this be her first Oscar, I think it was deserved. 

• Best Supporting Actor: J.K. Simmons, Whiplash. Yes. Just yes. So deserved. He was great in this movie. His acting really hits you hard in the feels and brings out your emotions for the characters in the film. I really liked Edward Norton in Birdman and Ethan Hawke in Boyhood as well. These guys really made their respective movies come alive and gave a sort of antagonistic feel.

• Best Supporting Actress: Patricia Arquette, Boyhood. All the women in this category were so great, but Patricia just carried the entire movie. She was great in the film and her speech was so inspirational. 

Highlights

1. Common and John Legend's performance of and win for Glory, Best Original Song. This performance brought tears to people's eyes, including Chris Pine and David Oyelowo and introduced Civil Rights issues that are still relevant in America today, like how more black people are incarcerated today than were slaves in the 1800s. The performance stage was set under a replica of the Edmund Pettus Bridge and really moving.

2. Lady Gaga's Sound of Music tribute performance. This was not the Lady Gaga I'm used to seeing, but I would really like to see more of her! She looked gorgeous and really belted out a medley of songs from the Sound of Music to honor Julie Andrews. Julie Andrews walked on stage afterwards and emotionally thanked Lady Gaga for the performance, and it was super touching. Lady Gaga really did those songs justice. 

3. That Best Foreign Language Film winner who would not stop giving his speech. Is he still there by the way?

4. Terrence Howard getting emotional when introducing Oscar nominees. Was he really getting emotional or was he high?


5. Graham Moore's speech when winning Best Adapted Screenplay for The Imitation Game. Growing up weird myself, this speech really spoke to me and I'm sure to millions of others as well.

6. Finally, in all seriousness, the speech that Patricia Arquette gave after her win for Best Supporting Actress was truly the speech to listen to at the Academy Awards. She called for wage equality among men and women and got a standing ovation from many of her peers in the audience. "It's our time to have wage equality, once and for all, and equal rights for women in the United States of America," she exclaimed. And she's absolutely right. If you missed her speech, its a must watch...

And that's my wrap up of the Oscars this year! I'm happy that each of the nominees for Best Picture one at least one Oscar. All in all, I was really impressed. As always, I was blown away by the fashion and very supportive of the winners. What are everyone else's thoughts on the 2015 Academy Awards?